Popular reviews

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  Review by Josh Lewis ★★★★

  really elegantly-shot real-time chamber thriller of its era with a strong focus on the geography of this rusty junkyard these characters are being held hostage in, as well as the psychological and literal eyeline perspective as they navigate this brutal, desperate situation with very limited resources. the constant switching between these moody suspense building compositions and wide matter-of-fact dumps of background/foreground information for logistical decision-making considerations and sudden bursts of violent, sweaty hysteria are incredible. (think this vilmos zsigmond guy is going places?) if that was all this movie was it'd be a good one but it also benefits from this uniquely nasty, savage tone that sustains a truly squirm-inducing vibe of pointless cruelty, almost deliberately preying on the naivety…

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  Review by Cropsy ★★★★½

  Now that a blu ray is out, the time for a revisit is now. I've always loved this movie, but The Sadist in HD is absolutely incredible. The masterful work of Vilmos Zsigmond is given new life and it is fucking gorgeous. As for the film itself, I find it way ahead of its time. Arch Hall Jr gives an unhinged performance that HAD to be an inspiration for the hitchhiker in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Not many films in the era or before are as bleak or unforgiving as The Sadist. There are even some fantastic proto-slasher elements at hand. There's a chase scene that's just wonderful.

  More folks need to check out The Sadist. It is truly a work of art.

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  Review by Jesse ★★★½

  I have this huge 50 movie box set of the most chilling horror films….that are in the public domain. This has easily got to be the best of the bunch. 

  Surprisingly sinister and makes great use of its singular, junk yard location. Arch Hall Jr. is having the time of his life hamming up the film as the evil Charlie. Watching him just be completely insane the whole film is worth the watch alone. Some moments were genuinely shocking and did not expect this from such a clearly obvious B-movie. 

  I know some of you have those box sets that you bought for 10 dollars. Double check to see if this one is floating in there and give it a watch.

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  Review by Blaze the Action Junkie ★★★★

  What an amazing film! This one reminded me of something like a mix of Psycho and Wrong Turn with qualities that were totally unexpected. Rarely are such sick, demented and twisted characters so effectively portrayed in cinema. The overall ratings curve here should be evidence that I'm not alone in these opinions. The actors are far from well known but all do an excellent job at portraying the emotions of their characters here. The writing told a simple story through clearly written characters. The cast list is short and the tension is high. The plot could be effective in any time period and the fear instilled into the protagonists could strike anyone given the same predicament. This is clearly a…

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  Review by laird ★★★★

  aka Psycho from 5 to 7

  Arch Hall Jr. looks, moves and talks like a John K. character with his cherubic face, nervous twitching and high pitched voice. It makes him all the more terrifying. So many cliches that I thought came from 70s exploitation are on full display here in this sweaty chamber piece that takes place in real time. Contains what may be the best opening card of all time.

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  Review by Will Sloan ★★★★ 1

  Even if he had never graduated beyond exploitation films, Vilmos Zsigmond would deserve to be remembered as one of the greats.

  Star quality. Arch Hall Jr does not have it.

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  Review by Liz ★★★★ 3

  What kind of monster shakes their Nehi before taking a swig?

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  Review by cherry ★★

  Honestly I spent the whole time squinting and trying to figure out if he had the most insane unibrow caught on film or if the camera angles were just casting a shadow

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  Review by Hunter ᴴᴰ ★★★★

  Everyone knows the lyrical haze of Badlands and the acid trip of Natural Born Killers that murderer Charles Starkweather helped influence but before that there was a cruel, dirty picture called The Sadist. 

  Sadist: a person who takes pleasure in inflicting pain, punishment, or humiliation on others. A big bearded German psychologist named Richard von Krafft-Ebing, who is known for narrowing the gap of science and sex over spiritualism while making psychiatric treatment cool for the upper class, coined the word “sadism” after that perverted French nobleman. Sexual and violent deviance has often been a hot button in society and storytelling to explore our fears or fascination. Just as Krafft-Ebing‘s work defined sex in Psychopathia Sexualis, a sexual and counterculture…

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  Review by single white femalien

  really heavy downer shit, a film mired in senseless, mean-spirited cruelty which sometimes i really can't take!! but this is one of those extra fraught weeks ruled by an onslaught of explicit gender violence from outright femicide to another abusive guy in film who's inevitably gonna get a free pass on it cuz they always do, so this doesn't have an equal register in relation to actual murdered & abused women, idk!! i guess i can now see the value in this totally morally repugnant kind of shit because at least the sadist specifically doesn't seem like it really celebrates or revels in it, it's just like, jesus, sometimes horrible disturbing things happen for no reason? i mean there's a reason…

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  Review by Sally Jane Black

  This deeply flawed film shows a surprising amount of talent in the way it was directed. While the actors are hammy and/or clumsy for the most part, detrimentally so at times, and the low rent feel of the film is always apparent, there are times when the film manages to build genuine suspense. It also finds more clever camera angles than any early exploitation effort reasonably should, most notably some through-the-bulletholes moments that are particularly... well, cool.

  The storytelling abilities of the director/writer really surprised me. A 1963 film based on the Starkweather murders that is classified as exploitation suggests a moralistic slice of cheeze. Instead, we get genuine horror and violence, depicted just outside the realm of decency--by 1963…

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  Review by Joel anVALISok ★★★★

  Three school teachers on a road trip to see a Dodgers game have car trouble. They pull into a junk yard to try and fix it. No one is around at first, until Charlie steps out, gun in hand. He is the titular sadist, on a killing spree that started in Arizona and is now in California. Almost the whole runtime takes place in this junk yard. For all the limits of location and acting skills this is very tense. Arch Hall Jr. plays Charlie and is joined by fellow Eegah (1962) costar Marilyn Manning (judy). His father, Arch Hall Sr., also starred and directed Eegah and does the radio announcer and narrator here. Charlie spends a lot of time…